Him, alone among the Dead
by MarieTheManiac
Summary: Subject Delta reflects on his past, the present and what is yet to come. Rated M for blood and violence.


It's been a while since I've played Bioshock 2, but as far as I remember, it was Tennenbaum who gave Delta back some of his free will, right? But I don't know, I've always kinda liked the idea of Delta being different than the other Big Daddies. Also in the Intro (I keep watching it because it's so beautiful), he seemed more...loving. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

As he walked through the darkness (you could never tell if it was day or night in Rapture), he could not help but ponder.

This place. It was so different from what he remembered. So different, but yet so alike. The leaking ceilings, the cold, dark rooms, the rotting corpses, those things were the same. But yet, as Subject Delta's gaze wandered over the place, his memory still so fresh from just being resurrected, he noticed that some minor things were missing.

There was no music playing. Nowhere. No people were laughing, on the contrary, he could hear the occasional scream and desperate crying. The buildings and furniture were damaged and dirty, not just some of it, but all of it. Up to now, the only not damaged thing he had seen was the Vita Chamber he had woken up in front of. It made Subject Delta wonder for just how long he had been lying there in the puddle of stale sea water. He felt his chest grow heavy and did not know why.

Then there it was, so brief, but it hit him with full might, making him stop in an instant.

"_Father!"_

If they could have, Delta's eyes would have widened in shock. He stumbled and usually so lithe despite his size, he fell to the ground, verifying what he had just seen, his thoughts wandering over the silky, dark brown hair, the white, flawless skin and the beautiful eyes that were as deep and blue as the sea. His mind suddenly filled with pictures that seemed as if they were truly taking place at that very moment.

His little girl. His _daughter_. Holding a self-made little doll, smiling at him with so much affection that his heart seems to glow, even though they tell him that he does not have a heart, not anymore at least. Her eyes, glowing like stars and he swore, they were shining so much brighter than the other girls' eyes, same with her hair, which was much softer and silkier, with a deeper, warmer shade of brown.

She had grown, become a woman, but he knew, he knew that this beautiful adolescent was indeed _his_ daughter.

Delta did not move, could not move. His thoughts were racing and he tried to understand, understand why he was here, understand what had happened.

And then he remembered it all.

He remembered the blonde devil that had taken his little girl from him. The woman that had shattered his world in less than a heartbeat. He could hear his daughter's scream as the monsters had grabbed her, he could see the bewilderment and the tears in her eyes as the female devil had handed him the pistol.

* * *

"_Fire."_

* * *

Subject Delta screamed, screamed like the wounded beast he was. This woman had taken his daughter from him, had made her watch how he had ended, shooting himself in his deformed head. Delta had not known that he was even able to feel sick, but now he did feel sick, so sick that he almost wished to die once more.

* * *

"_DADDY!"_

* * *

Her scream had echoed in his head as his mind and soul had faded, he remembered now. The last thing he had heard was the desperate scream of his beautiful little girl.

Delta let himself fall on his back, the loud, crashing sound probably alerting the monsters, but he did not care.

They had always called him a monster. A lifeless, disgusting monstrosity, with no sense of right or wrong, with no ability to feel, without free will, only constructed for one purpose, to protect the, as they had said, "Little Sisters". And to a certain degree he had believed them, for he had seen countless of his kind, wandering around with no sense of direction or their environment, their gaze locked to the singing and dancing little girls on their side. He had never doubted their words.

Until the day he had witnessed _it_.

He had just safely brought his daughter back to the vent, her "Hidey-Hole" as she always called it. As always, he had waited in front of the vent for a few minutes, to make sure that she would not be disturbed in some way. And then he had seen it.

There were not many of his kind, as they told him that he was the first "success", but he had encountered them all the time and knew that they were protectors, just like him, so the armored being on the other end of the room had not really bothered him. But just to be sure, he had stayed a little longer, watching the protector-gatherer pair.

And then, all the muscles in his body had tensed, his restricted mind not comprehending what had been happening, only able to register the girl's screams.

"_AH! DADDY! DON'T HURT ME! NO! NO!"_

Silence. A growl. And then he had seen the slug.

Delta had known that the girls carried ADAM inside their bodies. He had known, but the information had never captured his interest. The girls always share the ADAM with their protectors anyway, so why would that be of interest to any of them?

But as he had watched the lifeless body of the little girl drop to the ground, her former "protector" stomping off with a satisfied grunt, he had started to understand.

He indeed _was_ different than the other protectors. They did not even have a small part of their mind able to think for itself. They were programmed. And sometimes, programs fail. And the hunger for ADAM was the virus.

Delta had kept his consumption of ADAM at a minimum from that day on. Every time his little girl had handed him her syringe, a wide smile on her face, sometimes still humming or singing, while her glowing eyes looked at him in admiration…he had almost always pushed her hand away. Only if the need for ADAM was almost, _almost_ unbearable, then he would accept the syringe. He could and would not risk hurting his beloved daughter. Turning into such a…an abomination.

In the present, Delta heard a soft voice coming from another room, almost a whisper, and he listened:

"_Mister Bubbles, Mister Bubbles,_

_Are you there? Are you there?_

_Come and give me lollies,_

_Come and bring me toffees,_

_Teddy bears, teddy bears."_

It was one of the songs his daughter used to sing. In an instant, Delta's chest felt heavy again, but at the same time he was _happy_. The dark memories of his past were forgotten, the present seemed to hold light for his life.

He had her back. After all these years, he did not know how many, he finally had his daughter back. She was alive and beautiful and she had contacted him. She _remembered_ him.

Something that that Lamb-person had said found its way back into Delta's mind.

* * *

"_Her name is Eleanor. And she is mine."_

* * *

Eleanor. That was his daughter's name. It was just as beautiful as her.

* * *

"… _And she is mine."_

* * *

Yes, the woman had claimed to be his little girl's mother. Delta was confused. How was that possible? The little girls did not have mothers, he knew that. He did not know why, but the word a mother was associated by the girls with something bad, forbidden.

"I know a bad word, Daddy, and it's spelled M-O-M-M-Y!"

Those were Eleanor's words, he remembered. Did she not remember her mother? Or has she truly never had one? Then why would this woman have lied?

Delta's head started to hurt and he was uncertain if it was because of his wound or because of his deep thoughts. He was far from intelligent and he knew that others of his kind could not think at all.

"Oooh, Tin Daddy! Does he have ADAM?"

Delta was up in an instant and started his drill. The monster attacked, swung a rusty wrench and Delta did not hesitate, he rammed his drill into the former man's face. His painful screams satisfied Delta. The monster fell to the ground as nothing more than a bloody bundle. Delta stopped his drill and examined the creature that lay on the ground in front of him. Its face, or rather what Delta had left of it, was deformed to a degree that one could not tell if the monster had been a teenager or a senior.

They had always called them "Splicer", but those creatures had always been monsters to Delta. Before his forced suicide, they had not been as…pitiful as they were now, but he had already noticed their constant hunger for ADAM and their will to do anything it took to get some. Even trying and touching his daughter.

"_Father! Can you hear me?"_

Delta was right before collapsing again when he heard the soft voice of his now grown daughter. Eleanor.

He let out a grunt and hoped that she would understand. Apparently she did.

"_Oh!"_

He could hear her choke. She was crying.

"_I've missed you! I've missed you so much, Daddy!"_

Daddy. Not "father". Despite all those years that must have passed, despite how much older she was now, she was still his little girl. And no matter what would happen, if he would die in this flooded hell, she always would be.


End file.
